Victorian-based Lawsons has had a long-standing bull
breeding and marketing business in Western Australia, with Harry Lawson and
wife Ruth earlier spending three years in the west, developing the enterprise.

The buyers say they plan to complete a partially-built
abattoir on the site, ‘in due course’.

The new business aims to create a world-class integrated
beef supply business at an attractive time in the beef economic cycle, joint
venture spokesman Harry Lawson said.

Carpenter Beef general manager John Berkefeld will head up
the new group, which has been formed to expand the integrated supply chain of
high quality Angus and Wagyu brands into global markets.

“The new Central Agri business model will create the
integrated seed-stock and breeding company that we need to secure supply for
our export Angus programs,” Mr Berkefeld said.

“Lawsons Angus has been our major genetics supplier for
twenty years so it really isn’t a major change to our strategy,” he said. “Our
integration into Central Agri Group will enable us to expand the business
significantly and better serve Lawsons Angus customers in WA and on the East
coast.”

“This is a great result for Carpenter Beef and WA
agriculture in general,” Mr Berkefeld said.

“Our Japanese customers are looking to increase the volume
of high quality grain fed Angus, and we wanted to secure a supply of cattle
with the right genetics to fit that market. For a long time our company has
recognized the value of Lawsons Angus genetics and the consistency in producing
a high quality product.”

“Our Japanese customers want to open the box and find the
same eating quality every time. This is only possible with a long-term
disciplined approach to every part of the supply chain starting with the
genetics.”

The Joanna Plains farm at Cataby will continue to be used as
a custom feedlot for northern producers as well as a facility for finishing
cattle to be slaughtered at the Shark Lake abattoir. The feedlot has in the
past fed up to 13,000 head.

The 10,000 head backgrounding facility will be expanded to
include a Lawsons Angus Bull Unit and Research
Centre.

Lawsons Angus head Harry Lawson said the Joanna Plains sale
represented a “once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“We are excited to be part of a dynamic fully-integrated
breeding company. The facility we have at Joanna Plains is a similar concept to
that used by our US partners, Gardiner Angus Ranch,” he said in a statement.

Gardiner Ranch, one of the largest US seedstock suppliers,
also operates a large commercial cattle business built around progeny buyback
schemes among co-operator breeders using Gardiner Ranch genetics.

“Central Agri Group will offer our clients in the East and
the West an opportunity to work with the end-customer and see the value of
their genetics in a transparent way,” Mr Lawson said.

“Having a fully traceable supply chain including genetics
puts us in a truly unique position,” he said.

The sale comes after years of speculation about the future
of the 8700ha grazing property near Cataby, where construction of a
boutique-scale abattoir stopped in 2007 after owner Ric Stowe’s Business Empire
collapsed.

With Central Agri’s ‘multimillion-dollar cash injection’,
the property is likely to boast a 400-head-a day abattoir, feedlots and prime
grazing land.

The announcement comes after years of speculation regarding the future of the
8700ha farm near Cataby, where construction of a large-scale abattoir ground to
a halt in 2007 in the wake of the collapse of owner Ric Stowe’s empire.

In a bizarre twist of events it was rumoured earlier this year that Malaysian
investors had joined forces with the embattled former owner to finish building
the abattoir.

With
Central Agri’s multimillion cash injection, the property will boast a
400-head-a-day European standard abattoir, feedlots and prime grazing land that
will be a genetics driven “jewel in the crown” of the group, using the
facilities to employ American breeding principles to inject extra value for
their supply chain stakeholders.

Plans are also under way to incorporate a world-leading research centre and
Angus bull unit to offer partner breeders sophisticated genetic information on
potential sires.

It
is an attractive time in the beef economic cycle, with world prices continuing
to boom.

Carpenter
Beef general manager John Berkfield will head up the new group, which will be a
one-stop-shop for the supply of Angus and Wagyu brands into global markets.

The
combination of an integrated seed stock and breeding company will secure supply
for the new company’s export programs.

The Joanna Plains farm will continue to be used as a custom feed-lot for
northern producers as well as a facility for finishing cattle to be slaughtered
at Shark Lake.

A
10,000 head backgrounding facility on the farm will be expanded to include the
research centre and bull unit and complete the partially built abattoir by
early next year.

“Lawsons
Angus has been our major genetics supplier for twenty years so it really isn’t
a major change to our strategy,” Mr Berkfield said.

“Our integration into Central Agri Group will enable us to expand the business
significantly and better serve Lawsons Angus customers in WA and on the East
coast.

“This is a great result for Carpenter Beef and agriculture in general because
our Japanese customers are looking to increase the volume of high quality
grain-fed Angus.”

Mr
Berkfield said the new company was formed to secure a supply of cattle with the
right genetics to fit that market.

“For
a long time our company has recognised the value of Lawsons Angus genetics and
the consistency in producing a high quality product for our Japanese customers
who want to open the box and find the same eating quality every time,” he said.

“This is only possible with a long term disciplined approach to every part of
the supply chain starting with the genetics.”